The Slow Regard of Silent Things

Deep below the University, there is a dark place. Few people know of it: a broken web of ancient passageways and abandoned rooms. A young woman lives there, tucked among the sprawling tunnels of the Underthing, snug in the heart of this forgotten place.

Her name is Auri, and she is full of mysteries.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a brief, bittersweet glimpse of Auri’s life, a small adventure all her own. At once joyous and haunting, this story offers a chance to see the world through Auri’s eyes. And it gives the reader a chance to learn things that only Auri knows…

In this book, Patrick Rothfuss brings us into the world of one of The Kingkiller Chronicle’s most enigmatic characters. Full of secrets and mysteries, The Slow Regard of Silent Things is the story of a broken girl trying to live in a broken world.

Patrick Rothfuss can write. I read this one about a year ago, and I forgot about it until I started listening to The Name of the Wind on audiobook again. Immediately after getting back into the world of Temerant I am reminded how well Pat can really write. When I stack his works up to what I’ve read this year, it is clear that his prose goes above and beyond the norm. The Slow Regard of Silent Things is no exception to this. I consider the journey through this story to be wonderful.

Wonderful is such a good choice because Patrick’s writing just flows, and while it flows, you quickly get attached to the characters. In this case, the character is Auri. Auri is written wonderfully as well. You really get the chance to know her in this spinoff that was missing from the other two KingKiller books. You get to see how her mind works, how she lives, how she acts, and who she is. I saw a video of a gear being made, and after reading this story, I have been associating gears with Auri.

If you have read up to The Wise Man’s Fear , and you are invested in the story so far, you have to give this one a chance. It’s a super quick read, and while short, it is memorable. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews, and I think the ones who gave such negative feedback really missed the beauty of the story. The illustrations that accompany it are quite nice as well.

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26 thoughts on “The Slow Regard of Silent Things ”

I struggled to enjoy this one, and I have a high tolerance for the experimental — but this one was a little too out there for me. I just didn’t feel like there was something solid to sink my teeth into, and I had trouble finding meaning in Auri’s strange way of seeing the world… but I respect Rothfuss for trying something so unusual, and I’m glad you were able to enjoy this one! Great review.

I love the KingKiller books so much that I refused to read this one (stupidly) because I was mad that Rothfuss took the time to write this instead of giving me the third installment. I know, it is a ridiculous reason! This is a great review – I have added it to my TBR.

I liked this one a lot. I have a penchant for turning the world at odd angles to examine odd points of view and odd understandings, to see what comes of this.

It didn’t have a lot of things a story normally has. It didn’t even have other characters. But Auri’s uniquely broken thinking invests the objects she handles with character, so much that the inanimate objects in her world are an ecosystem unto themselves.

I found this fascinating to read . . . but without a grounding in the world of The Kingkiller Chronicles, a reader fresh to the world would almost certainly be lost. It takes a familiarity with Auri to be able to appreciate an insight into her mystery.

I loved this one, although at first I wasn’t sure about it, then midway it just kind of swept me away. It’s a strange read, with a unique yet peculiar beauty. I think it really stands more alone from the series than with it even though you have to read the series first to really kind of get it (much like Auri herself, which is kind of an interesting concept and just makes me like Rothfuss all the more) but I think the things I liked the most were the things he managed to show us, without telling us, and the things he managed to make me feel with a story that was somehow not a story, and yet it was somehow… more. Yup, wonderful sums it up. Great review. 🙂

I somehow haven’t been able to get through this book yet. I love Auri in the Kingkiller books and do want to know more about how she works. However, I just can’t get past the first few pages yet. I’ll sure try again some day though.

I look through your posts, Chaz, and we like all the same books and have read almost all the same ones! This is one that I haven’t read. I got really mad at Rothfuss for not finishing the Kingkiller series in a reasonable timeframe. I like to binge read series, and I think I’ll be dead before the third book comes out. So, I just can’t read any more of his work until the whole thing is finished. But this sounds good. I do love his storytelling. Maybe by the time I’m ninety. 😀